AP US Government and Politics Review

Review Session #3 Review Political Parties/Elections and Interest Groups

Two party system in the USA
· History (especially since 1932, the last big realignment)
· Third Parties
· Dealignment? decline in party loyalty; decline in participation
· gender gap
· racial gap
· geographic cleavages?
· conservative - liberal shift?

Party organization
(national committees; state committees; Congressional committees; campaign committees; conventions; PACs; soft money; Campaigns: Conventions, primaries, general election campaigns

Election reform
campaign reform; campaign finance reform

Suffrage
expanding eligibility over time
factors affecting voting behavior: ages, socioeconomic status, residence, ethnicity, education

factors affecting voting decisions: income, occupation, education, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, family, party affiliation, perception of candidates and policies, feeling of efficacy
additional factors shaping public opinion: polls, media (changes in press and broadcast media), internet
19th amendment
26th amendment

Interest Groups
goal to influence policy not to win office
public interest groups; special interest groups; single issue groups; broadly
focused groups
pluralism (Federalist 10); hyperpluralism; elitism;
lobbying - insiders and outsiders; lobbying elected officials; lobbying bureaucrats and regulators, lobbying the public;
providing information; applying pressure; contributing to campaigns

Iron Triangles